


The Consequences of Allies

by Onehelluvapilot



Category: Star Trek: Picard
Genre: Episode: s01e10 Et in Arcadia Ego Part 2, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Past Abuse, Post-Betrayal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-16
Updated: 2020-07-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:21:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25314508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Onehelluvapilot/pseuds/Onehelluvapilot
Summary: Soji confronts Rios about how he, Raffi, and Elnor worked with her abuser Narek during Et in Arcadia Ego part 2. Set after most of the events of the episode but before the whole crew gets back together on La Sirena.
Relationships: Soji Asha & Cristóbal Rios
Comments: 8
Kudos: 10





	The Consequences of Allies

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this in like an hour, and it's my typical dialogue-heavy, description-light quick writing style. I'm not super satisfied with it, but I know if I don't post it now it will just sit in my drive for ages, so here you go.

“You worked with Narek!” Soji shouted, stepping forward and shoving Rios. She held back her whole strength (she would have thrown him across the ship if she hadn’t) but it was still enough to knock him back to the deck, his shoulder jarring painfully under him. Emil appeared automatically, but for once had the good sense to disappear with just a sharp look from his captain. Cris raised his hands in surrender.

“Yes, I did, becau-”

“You brought him into my home! To allow him to try to kill me again!” She stepped closer to him and he forced himself not to flinch away from her.

“We weren’t trying to hurt you!” he insisted. They were alone on the ship, as Picard and the rest of the crew were at the Artifact trying to help, so they didn’t have to worry about anyone hearing them shouting and coming over. Rios couldn’t decide of the impossibility of intervention was a good or a bad thing. At least it was him that Soji had gone after, not Raffi or Elnor. Not that they each couldn’t take care of himself, better than he could, probably, but he didn’t want them to get hurt.

“You threw a bomb at me!” The synth girl was crying, her hands balled up by her sides.

“I waited until you were out of the way!” Rios bit back, shoving himself to his feet. He wasn’t going to have this conversation from the floor, where he was in danger of being stepped on or kicked. “I wasn’t expecting you to grab the fucking thing out of the air!” He was shouting himself now, he realized, the sound echoing throughout La Sirena. Taking a deep breath, he let the anger go. It wouldn’t help them understand each other. “I’m sorry, hija-”

“Daughter? Daughter?!” Soji yelled back, and he winced at his choice of words. “How dare you? Don’t you dare try to manipulate me with  _ family _ .” The last word was hissed out, quieter, but with more righteous fury in it than any of her shouts.

“Lo siento, hij- niña,” he corrected himself, hands raised placatingly again. “You do not want to be lied to, so I will tell you the truth. Yes, I worked with Narek and in the same circumstance again, I would make the same decision. But I  _ did not want _ to work with your abuser. It was only because the entire galaxy was at risk. And yes, you made the right decision and I am proud of you for it, but I didn’t know then that you would. I thought using him was the only way to save an entire galaxy worth of people, and so I made a choice.”

“The calculus of sacrifice,” Soji said softly, and Rios didn’t know where that phrase was from but he nodded.

“Yes. And I wish that I didn’t have to make that calculation, but I always will, because I have failed to act before and allowed people to die. And I cannot allow people I love to be killed again.”

Soji looked up at him, her gaze intense as she studied his face and Rios wondered if she was listening to his heartbeat too to tell if he was lying. After what felt like minutes, she looked away.

“I’m still mad,” she said, voice cool and controlled. 

“Of course. You have every right to be. But please don’t take it out on Raffi or Elnor. They didn’t want to work with Narek any more than I did. Elnor almost refused to work with him, in fact.”

“That sounds like him,” Soji said, and she was smiling. Out of the people who had become the crew of La Sirena, she’d actually spent the second-least amount of time with the young Romulan, just after Seven. But they were both young and innocent in the same way that even killers could be and his constant honesty made him easy to get along with, so the two had bonded quickly. It was good to see that she wasn’t holding his species against him, despite having suffered so much at the hands of the Romulans. She was like what Picard had said of Data in that way; unbiased. “I’m going for a walk,” she announced.

“I assume you don’t want company,” he replied and couldn’t help a smile at the look she gave him in response. “Have a nice time.”

“I think I will.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'd love to hear what you thought of it, especially about any aspects that might be problematic. I'm not experienced in writing or talking about abuse, so if there are any problems there, PLEASE TELL ME.


End file.
